Executive Session with Jan Smith

Executive Session with Jan Smith

Newly appointed trustee of the University of South Florida Board of Trustees.

PERSONAL

AGE: 65

FAMILY: Married with a son, 35.

HOMETOWN: Fort Lauderdale

EDUCATION: Bachelor's of arts, political science, University of Florida.

IF FLORIDA PLAYED USF IN FOOTBALL, ONWHICH SIDE WOULD YOU SIT?: "I'd probably go to Carolina for the weekend.

I'd take the easy way out, I'd sit on one side in one half and sit on the other side the other half.

"The funny thing about it is I married my college sweetheart and when we used to go to football games back in the early '60s, the gals would go but they only went because the guys went. Well, now she's a more avid football fan thAn I am, and she's just nuts about the Gators and Urban Meyer."

DO YOU GO TO MANY GAMES: "We don't get to go to too many, but we don't miss many. We watch the Gators. I don't care if we're here, New York or Timbuktu if they're on the TV, we'll find a way to watch the Gators."

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO ATTEND U. of F.: "I grew up in Florida. Well, at the time it was, for sure, the leading public institution in the state. At the time, as far as I was concerned, wasn't any other choice. Plus, after I looked into it and wanted to be in business, well I hoped I'd be in business in the state of Florida, that's where you make a lot of good contacts."

WHY A POLITICAL SCIENCE DEGREE: "I thought I might want to be a lawyer, and I thought about getting a degree in history, but I was persuaded that might not be as valuable as a degree in political science, and really when you you look at politics, there's a lot of business and economic issues that are all intertwined."

WHY AREN'T WE SITTING IN THE JAN SMITH LAW FIRM: "I went to law school for awhile, and that didn't work for me. I'm really an entrepreneur by heart and spirit. You don't know that necessarily when you're in college, but I owned and operated a lot of different businesses, and it's a lot more fun to hire a lawyer than to practice law."

HOW HE ESCAPES: "I go to the mountains. I have a home in the mountains outside of Boone, N.C., and we spend a good bit of time up there. Off and on for me, but my wife spends a lot of time there during the summer. We like to travel. If you mean escaping town that's it."

ANY OTHER INTERESTS: "I really enjoy business, so I don't have a lot of conventional hobbies. I don't play golf, I don't sky dive. I'm involved with politics somewhat locally and in the state."

IT SEEMS YOU REALLY ENJOY POLITICS, HOW DID THAT START: "It probably started when I was student body president in high school. When I got to the University of Florida I got involved with my fraternity and campus politics. I then worked for a U.S. congressman when I got out of school for about a year, so I got a good taste of it."

ANY THOUGHT OF STEPPING INTO THE POLITICAL ARENA YOURSELF: "I've thought about it from time to time, but the clock is probably marching on now."

PROFESSIONAL

FIRST PAYING JOB: "Bag boy with a privately owned grocery, but I wasn't just a bag boy. I mopped floors and did wha ever they asked me to do. At 75 cents an hour if you can believe that, and no overtime."

TIME WITH USF BOARD: Smith was appointed to the board July 9, 2005. He currently serves as the chairman of the USF-Sarasota/Manatee Board and is president of Jan Smith and Co., a commercial real estate and business investments organization in Bradenton.

POSITIONS PREVIOUSLY HELD: Co-owner of Appliance Service of Florida Inc. in Sarasota from 1982-1989; president and majority stockholder of Smith-Hadley Leasing Corp. from 1980-1984; principal with Wyman, Green and Blalock from 1964-1979.

ABOUT THE POSITION

WHAT'S THE MAIN DIFFERENCES OF YOUR POISITION ON THE REGIONAL CAMPUS VS. THE MAIN CAMPUS: "The big decisions that affect the whole university are made by that board, and the fact that we have someone from Manatee County, which is me, and Bob Soran, who's from Sarasota. He's on our campus board.

"I buy into the president's vision of trying to be one of the top 50 public research universities in the next five years, which is a pretty big goal, but I think we can achieve that. Being a business person I see the value of having a strong educational system not just from K-12, but on through university systems. When people come into Manatee and Sarasota counties and start looking to move from other places and companies, particularly large companies, one of the first things they're going to ask the economic development people is what's the deal with your educational system? So we have something to sell in Manatee/Sarasota with the USF, particularly our regional campus, because we're on the move, we're on the grow.

WHY THE MAIN CAMPUS BOARD: "It's sort of a seat at the table of decisions. I think it's important that our area is represented, Sarasota/Manatee. I'm not being parochial by saying that, I'm just saying that I think it's good that with the people in our area down here that we have two trustees who live here but will be on the main board at USF because we can look out for our interest and also contribute to the overall goals of the university."

OUT OF ALL THE BOARDS YOU"VE SAT ON, WHAT MAKES THIS ONE DIFFERENT: "It's a different dynamic than everyday business, which is what I do in my day job. It's exciting in many levels - one when you look out and see the students either when you're walking on the campus or you're in a board meeting and you see them wandering by. It kind of grounds you from the standpoint of what's this all about? You can get caught up in trying to raise money or doing this or that, but what it all comes down to is the young people who are trying to get educated. The other side of it is you get to interact with a lot of smart people, professors and so forth, and so it's very stimulating."

- Adam Hughes